How can I fight credit card penalty?

I have just been slapped with a £12 fee for being three days late with a credit card payment.

My credit card balance is always small and I always pay it off and keep the amount I owe on it very low. What is the best way to avoid paying this ridiculous rip-off fee? H.W., Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Simon Moon from This is Money replies: Your first step should be to appeal to the credit card company to waive this fine.

If you are a long-term customer, use that fact along with your previously unblemished record to support your assertion that this fee is unfair.

Don't be fobbed off and keep pressing your case. Your complaint will probably have to be referred higher to someone who has the authority to refund the charge, and your best chance of success at this point is to be calm and courteous.

If a softly-softly approach fails, then it's time to get tough. Threaten to cancel the card and take your custom elsewhere.

If that doesn't do the trick, and you are forced to pay up, don't get mad, get even.

Do you have any other form of financial link with the card issuer? Then use it to get your own back.

A few months ago, when I found myself in your situation, I cancelled property insurance I had with the bank and found a better deal elsewhere.

They just don't seem to realise that destroying a long-term relationship with a customer is not worth it for the sake of £12.